James B. Leary, JD

Jim Leary is the Vice Chancellor for Community and Government Relations at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. In that role, he manages federal, state and local government affairs and oversees community relations statewide. He regularly collaborates with medical and research institutions and associations, both statewide and nationally, to ensure that UMMS’s public policy advocacy is advanced in a strategic and comprehensive fashion. He interfaces regularly with the local community on behalf of the medical school, including by serving on a variety of nonprofit boards in the Worcester area. In addition, he leads institution-wide efforts to promote community volunteerism and service by members of the UMMS community.

A Worcester native, Leary has extensive experience in state government, including serving three terms as an elected member of the House of Representatives, and later working in the executive branch as Chief of Staff and Counsel to the Lieutenant Governor and as a senior advisor to the Governor. He has practiced law in Massachusetts in private practice and as an assistant district attorney. Leary is a graduate of Assumption College and the Georgetown University Law Center.